This invention relates generally to the handling of contaminants and is particularly directed to an arrangement for transferring a contaminant between a sealed chamber and a closed container while maintaining the contaminant isolated from the environment.
Toxic or radioactive contaminants are typically stored and transported in sealed containers which prevent their escape into the surrounding atmosphere. Government regulations mandate that these containers be structurally sound and leak proof. As a result, the greatest threat of escape of a contaminant into the atmosphere generally occurs during the transfer of the contaminant into or out of the container. During such transfers, it is absolutely essential that the inner, contaminated areas defined by the contaminant-containing vessels be maintained completely and permanently isolated from the outer, clean environment. This not only requires the elimination of leaks from these vessels into the surrounding environment, but also requires that any surfaces exposed to the contaminants or contaminated atmosphere must not be exposed to the surrounding environment. To date, no contaminant transfer arrangement has been able to provide an effective, reliable seal during contaminant transfer while preventing those portions of the transfer mechanism exposed to the contaminant from coming in contact with the surrounding, uncontaminated environment.
The present invention thus represents an improvement over the prior art in that it provides a safe, reliable and inexpensive arrangement for transferring contaminated materials from a covered container to a sealed chamber, or vice versa, while limiting access to the contaminants and contaminated atmosphere only to internal portions of the container and chamber to which the surrounding environment is not exposed.